Click HERE to view Rev. Rogers’ guided meditation during the service.
Okay, I want to talk about engagement tonight. And the question that I have for you is: Do you feel engaged into life? And if you had to give yourself a number of your level of engagement — from one to 100 – do you feel like you’re 5 % engaged; 50 % engaged; 95% engaged in life? What is your level of engagement in life?
Because what I think is true is that we are not always as engaged in life as we know we could be. Maybe even as we want to be. There was a recent survey that asked people, “How engaged do you feel at work?” You know what the number was? Of how many people feel engaged at work? Guess. [Congregants yell out answers] Fifteen percent! [Congregants gasps] Fifteen percent of people feel engaged at work. That means — let’s say that together! That means that 85% of people that are going to work every day do not feel engaged at work. Eighty-five percent! Is that a problem? I think it is! Right?
And so I want to talk about this engagement. I want to talk about it at two different levels. I want to talk about it from a human level, but I also then want to talk about it from a spiritual point of view.
And what does it mean in your life to be engaged? Because I know how it feels when you don’t feel engaged. And the passion is gone. And so what does it take for us to live a life that actually engages the fullness of who we are?
You know, one of the things I believe is true from a human point of view — that there are really two things that I think really define engagement. The first one is will, and the second one is skill. And that when we look at these two different elements, will and skill, we can kind of get almost instantly an understanding of how well we’re engaged. And especially when it comes to our work: how well are we engaged in our work? Do we have the will and the skill to be amazing at what we do?
And it’s kind of troubling how many people are disengaged. So I want you to look at this. We’re going to create a little — and I’m not going to go too far. We’re going to create a little graft, okay? This is will. This is high will; this is low will. will. This is skill. This is low; this is high. Okay? So that means there’s roughly four quadrants.
So when we’re low will, low skill, is that a problem? [Congregants laugh] Yes! Right? And when you look at yourself or you look at employees that are low will, low skill, oftentimes it wasn’t a good choice. They’re not in their right place.
Sometimes people that are low will, low skill: their job has changed dramatically and what they thought they were signing up for doesn’t exist anymore. So that what they thought they were going to be doing is not a part of their job, or they now have to do computers or something that, when they signed up for this job 100 years ago, that wasn’t a part of this. So they’re hanging in until they retire, because they are low will, low skill. And it makes sense, right?
Now, high will, low skill; that’s often a new employee. Right? Somebody who’s gangbusters – wants to learn, wants to grow. They have high will, low skill. And they may be very committed, but they may not be the most effective, right?
Now we go to high skill, low will. Now, can you think of any area in your life where you are highly skilled and you have low will? How about cleaning the toilets? [Congregants laugh] You may do a beautiful job with that, right? But do you have high will or low will when it comes to cleaning the bathroom? You think, “Well, it’s beautiful,” right?
Now, the sweet spot is right here. Right? Where we have high will and high skill. And that’s actually what we’re shooting for in literally every area of our life. Can I move those things in my life so that I’m spending more and more of my time doing things so that I have high will and high skill?
Now, what I want you to see in all of these areas is that, when we look at our life, some of life is going to fall into all four of those quadrants. So, an area in my life where I have low will, low skill is taxes. [Congregants laugh] Doing taxes — my own — I have low will, low skill. And so I pay for that to be done. Does that make sense?
Now, high will, low skill. That might be singing. [Congregants laugh] Right? I have a high will! In the shower I am amazing! Right? I have high will; I wish I could do this. Like, that’s a high will, low skill. Right?
Now, other things. Cleaning is always my high … I can clean like crazy. Do I want to? Not unless Jillie says it’s time. [Congregants laugh] Right?
Now, there are things that I’m high will, high skill. Sunday mornings, Wednesday nights; I think I’m high will, high skill. And I want you to look at this little model and I want you to see, when it comes to engagement — when it comes to your life — can you find things in all four of these quadrants? And I want you to really pay attention to the things that are in this quadrant, in this quadrant, and in this quadrant, 2here you might not be living your best life … where you might not be as engaged as you could be.
Because I think it’s so helpful when you can say to yourself, “You know, I’m going to do that. And I realize I could do that. But I have a low will to do that. Like, I could trim that bush, right? But I have a low will and maybe mediocre skill.” Right?
And so that when we really begin to look at this, we can begin to see our engagement.
And this for me is really from the human point of view. It’s to really look at all the things we do in our life and to say: where are you? Is that a high skill, high skill? Is that a low skill, low will? Where is that? And to really begin to look at having a conversation with, “You know, I just don’t have the skill. I’m willing to do it or I’m not willing to do it. But I just don’t have the skill.” “Here I’m very motivated. I’m not sure what I’m doing. So maybe I’ll take a class. Or maybe I’ll watch something on YouTube that will actually give me the skills that I want.”
So when we look at engagement, I want you to just keep that in mind.
Now, I want to talk about spiritual engagement. And I think for a spiritual engagement, it comes down to three things. First is WILL. You know, I’ve been talking a lot about God’s will for us lately as I moved into this year. I’m even — this Sunday: I’m speaking here on Sunday — and I’m going to talk about putting God first.
And one of the things that I absolutely believe is that we are at a time where we’re getting the opportunity to decide to move from personal will to God’s will. And that our planet, our consciousness, our communities are really seeing the effects of living from personal will. That we’re not really enjoying that very much. And we have given ourselves permission — our ego place — to say that we have free will, and we can really do whatever the heck we want to do.
And is that true? Like, do you have free will? Do you have free will that you get to do whatever the heck you want to do? The answer is “Yes!” You have complete free will. You get to do whatever the heck you want to do. The question becomes: Are you enjoying that? Are you enjoying a world where everybody is just — to one degree or whatever — doing whatever the heck they want to do
And can you imagine a world where there is a collective beingness of creating something for the greater good for all? That’s one of the things I’ve always loved about church. I’ve always loved about church that you take a group of people and you share a vision of what we could create together. And people say, “I want into that.” And then something that is created is better, greater, more powerful, more fantastic than any one of us could have done on our own.
And I love that! Because every bit of ministry — if it was just left to me or just to you — it might be okay. But the fact that it’s all of us and we’re all contributing our piece, our part, our gift, our talent, our ability, it actually creates something that is radically better than any of us could do alone.
And that model of consciously creating together, I think, is a model that absolutely is necessary for our planet going forward. That we need to create a model where we have a vision for what could be, and then everybody gives into their piece. They give their gifts, their time, their talent, their energy to something bigger than any one of us could do on our own.
And that’s what I mean by will, that we’re committed to doing God’s will. That we’re committed to doing something that’s bigger than just our own ego; bigger than our own personality; bigger than our own personal desire. That we’re committed to doing the will of God.
And it’s really something about asking ourselves pretty much on a daily basis, you know: What is God’s will for me in my life? On a daily basis, what is God calling me to do today? And to be about that.
The second one. The second one is about WISDOM or intelligence.
And one of the things that that unity has been really fabulous about it — especially if you go back and read the old Unity writers: the Fillmores, the Cadys. That there is an understanding in those old Unity writers that there is a level of intelligence when we link our mind with the mind of God that is actually greater than we could do on our own.
Like when Myrtle Fillmore was healed, one of the things that she asked in prayer was, “Give me the intelligence to speak to every cell of my body calling forth that divine healing energy.” And she began to call forth the intelligence that was in every cell of her body to heal and transform.
And that when we align our will with the infinite will of God, and then we begin to call forth the wisdom and the intelligence of the infinite, it creates such a powerful thing! Because God’s will for each one of us is good and only good. And God’s infinite wisdom and intelligence actually knows how to execute that and bring that into form.
So when you think about your life and you begin to align your will with the infinite will of God — and ask for the infinite will of God and be open and receptive to the infinite will of God — then the next aspect of this is that we actually ask for the intelligence to bring it into form. That we actually have the wisdom to understand how to do that.
So the will of God is infinite good. And when we’re engaged in that; when we’re committed to that — when we love that idea that we want to live at a level of life that’s great and we’ve ever known before — that we’re willing to actually call forth a level of life that is greater, better, more loving, more powerful, more abundant than we’ve ever known before … Then the next part of this process is to really then seek the infinite wisdom and intelligence that knows how to do that.
The infinite mind of God knows how to bring that will into manifestation. And that, when we’re interested in that level of wisdom and intelligence, the Mind of God can actually download it into us.
So when we’re actually willing to hold the will and the wisdom, then the third aspect of this is power.
And power’s an interesting thing. Because most of us, in one way or another, have worked to be more powerful. You know, if I ask you to say, “I am powerful” …
Can we say that together?
[With congregation:] “I am powerful!”
Right? Does your ego love that statement? Mine does! Mine loves that statement! Right? Now, is it spiritually true that when we say the “I AM,” we’re actually speaking the name of God? Yes; yes; yes; yes; yes; yes. But if just tell the truth — if you say, “I am powerful,” doesn’t your little ego just want to wag a little bit? [Congregants laughs]
One more time: [with congregants] “I am powerful!”
And the truth is: you are! The truth is: you are absolutely powerful! The truth is that you are more powerful than you will ever realize!
And yet, you’re not as powerful as God.
And what I want us to begin to play with — as we’re actually entertaining the will of God and the wisdom of God — the next step in our personal spiritual journey is when we begin to surrender our ego power for divine power. And that takes us to a whole other level.
See, if you’ve believed your whole life that you have been under-empowered; if you’ve believed your whole life that you’re broken or less than, hearing someone say to you, “Oh, no; you are powerful!” is a transformative thought. If you’ve believed that it’s not okay for you to be empowered, learning that it’s absolutely okay for you to be empowered is absolutely a transformative though. But it’s still not as powerful as learning that you have the power of God within you to express in even greater ways than your ego ever could!
Zechariah 4:6: “Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, says the Lord of Host.”
John 14:10: “Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words that I say I do not speak on my own power. I do not speak on my own authority. But the Father who dwells within me does the work.”
I want you to hear that! The Father in me — the God in me — does the work.
That these three things to fully engage your spiritual life, I believe that for the next step, for all of us. of us, in one way or another, is to claim the will of God, to claim the wisdom of God, and to claim the power of God to do that which you’ve never done before.
See, I know that your will is powerful. I know that you’re intelligent and wise. And I know that you’re powerful. But the next step for most of us – if not all of us — when we make the shift moving from my will to God’s will; my wisdom, my intelligence, to Divine intelligence; my power to God’s power.
And when we make that shift, we become the bomb! [Congregants laugh] Like, we become the living expressions of God. We become the reason that we were created. That these three aspects: when we engage them — not from the human, not from the ego, not from the personal — but from the Divine, we actually move to our next level of living.
But, but it’s not safe to call forth the power of God if you’re living from personal will. Does that make sense to everybody? If you’re using your personal will, and you’re claiming you’re still living from your ego, it’s not safe for you to claim the power of God.
But as you begin to put God first in your life, claiming the wisdom and intelligence and the power to go with it, then those three things now are super-charging your life and actually take you to another level. And as we claim that, we actually fulfill the promise that God made to us from the beginning of time. But we actually need all three of these to move from an ego-based reality to a God-based reality.
So when you think about your will, would you be willing to surrender your will for God’s will? Could you believe that God’s will for you is greater than you could ever imagine? And as you align with that idea that God’s will for you is greater than you could ever imagine, can you imagine that, with that, it would take a higher level of wisdom and intelligence to activate that will? To actually live it? And it would take God’s power to move it into completion.
See, I believe that we are profound spiritual beings. And I believe that we have our next step, not only individually, but collectively. And our next step is when we shift … Well, it’s twofold. Our next step is twofold. The first step is: at some level, we all need to empower our ego. And then the next step is to transcend it.
If you don’t believe — if you’re still living from a place of woundedness — then we have to own that we are powerful. “I am powerful.” But as you begin to own “I am powerful,” then we have to transcend that and actually go to the next dimension or the next experience or the next manifestation where these three things … We begin to engage with God at a level that most people don’t do right now, but is where I believe the planet is at the verge of stepping into.
“I am ready to fully engage Spirit.”
Will you say that with me?
[With congregation:] “I am ready to fully engage Spirit.”
One more time like we mean it: [with congregation] “I am ready to fully engage Spirit.”
So can you believe that God’s will for you is greater than you’re currently living? Great! Are you willing to believe that there’s a level of wisdom that could be revealed to you that would show you how to do that? And are you willing to believe that there’s a level of God’s power that, once you make these two commitments, that you can safely call forth to move your life faster and further than you can even imagine? Because the power of God is in you! And with God … what’s the Scripture? [With congregation:] “All things are possible.”
And when we understand this threefold nature of engagement, I believe it changes everything.
Will you pray with me?
And I invite you to open your mind, your heart, your soul to the activity of God. That today we actually get interested in a new possibility. We get interested in the possibility that God’s will is greater than we currently live. That God’s will for our planet, for each one of us, for our community is greater than we can even comprehend.
And that, once we get interested in that idea that God’s will for each one of us is greater, then we’re willing to call forth God’s wisdom — God’s wisdom and intelligence — to activate that next level of living.
And that, once we call forth that level of intelligence, we’ve got to call forth the power of God that’s within us. That for most of us has been dormant from the beginning of time. But that power of God is ready to be activated to move through us, to heal us, to bless us, to transform us in greater ways than we’ve ever known before.
So in all things we look to God, and in all things we give thanks. And so it is. Amen.